Protective wrapper for roll of sheet material and method of making same

ABSTRACT

A protective wrapper for a cylindrical article such as a roll of sheet material, or the like, which includes at least one sheet of corrugated material to protect the cylindrical article during shipment and storage and during handling operations.

United States atent H 1 Garrison y 9, W72

[54] PROTECTIVE WRAPPER FOR ROLL UF [56] References Cited SHEET MATERIALAND METHOD OF M S UNITED STATES PATENTS 533,705 2/1895 Chatfield..206/59 F [72] Invent warren 1,996,402 4/l935 Brawer ..206/59 R [73]Assignee: Vito Guide, Centerline, Mich. a part in- 2,885,073 5/1959Bettoli et al ..229/87 R terest Primary Examiner-William T. Dixson, Jr.[22] Ffled' lune 1970 Attorney-Cullen, Settle, Sloman & Cantor 211 App].No.: 42,303

[57] ABSTRACT Cl 2 6/ 9 F, A protective wrapper for a cylindricalarticle such as a roll of 229/87 R sheet material, or the like, whichincludes at least one sheet of 11/00365cl 35/56 corrugated material toprotect the cylindrical article during 1 Field 0f Search 59 59 R, 46 46Y, shipment and storage and during handling operations.

1 Claims, 6 Drawing res PATENTEDMY 91972 3. 660,958

SHEET 1 BF 2 FIG.2

FIG/l INVENTOR DONALD R- GARRISON ATTORNEYS PATENTEDMAY 91972 3, 660,958

SHEET 2 [IF 2 PROTECTIVE WRAPPER FOR ROLL OF SHEET MATERIAL AND METHODOF MAKING SAME BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION As is known, sheet materialsuch as paper for news print magazines, etc. are usually shipped inlarge rolls from the paper manufacturer to the printing plants. Theserolls of paper are usually mounted upon a substantially rigid tubularcore on which the rolls are to be mounted on an arbor in the paperwinding or feeding machines at the plants. Exemplary rolls of paper maybe 60 inches long and measure up to 2 to 3 feet in diameter and they mayweigh up to 2 tons per roll.

Herebefore, considerable waste had to be taken into account by the papermanufacturers and printing plants, due to damage of the rolls of paperduring shipment and handling at the plants. These wastes, which oftenmay amount to as much as $1.00 to $1.30 per roll of paper are due tomany problems arising with shipping and handling of the rolls.

For instance, during shipmentof the rolls, the rolls of papers areusually placed in an upright position, one next to the other on the flatbed of the transporting vehicle. Due to vibrations and irregular motionof the transporting vehicle, including sudden stops, the uprightstanding rolls of papers, placed adjacent to each other, bump into eachother and sometimes with considerable force, to damage the outer layersof the paper rolls, although they are conventionally protected by craftpaper wrapping which, however, is easily ruptured under thesecircumstances. ln addition, the bumping of the rolls of paper into eachother during transit, very often causes the tubular core of the roll tobe deformed so that when the roll of paper has been placed on the arborof the paper feeding machine in the printing plant the roll will rotatewith irregular motion, commonly known as flutter," which causes out ofline feeding of the paper and very often ruptures the paper as it is fedfrom the fluttering roll. Thus, the paper feeding apparatus must bestopped to correct the flutter" and a large amount of paper is wasteddue to the irregular feeding from the fluttering roll, slowing down theoperation and adding an unnecessary expense caused by .down time andextra man power hours. Even if the internal tubular core of the roll ofpaper should not have been damaged, there is in almost any instancepaper damage on the outer layers of the roll of paper which have to bediscarded.

Likewise, during storing of the rolls of paper on the plant floor or ontrucks, the rolls are usually stored along their longitudinal side andseveral rows of rolls are superimposed upon each other in a pyramidshape. The outer-most rolls of the lowest row on the floor are supportedagainst removable stops to prevent them from rolling away fromunderneath of the other rolls on top of them. By removing any of thoserolls of papers stacked in a pyramid form, the lower roll has to beremoved carefully so as to permit the next upper roll to slowly slidedown to the floor. Due to the time element involved in printing andordinary carelessness by the paper handling operators, this is notalways done with the proper care, so that it happens very often that,when the bottom roll is removed the next upper roll is permitted to dropto the floor with considerable force due to its large weight, therebyflattening the roll to a considerable extent. This flattened conditionmakes it difficult to put the roll of paper into the paper feedingapparatus. Normally, a considerable length of the paper has to beremoved from the flattened portion of the paper roll and discarded aswaste before the paper roll again obtains a cylindrical shape so that itcan be efficiently fed from the paper roll apparatus.

A further most serious damage problem is consistently encountered by thehandling of the large paper rolls by means of lift trucks, such ashi-lows. The in-plant lift trucks are provided with grappling armsadapted to grip cylindrical articles and clamp them in between them,lift them from the ground, rotate them and transport them to anotherlocation. Most often the clamps of the grappling arms of the lift truck,upon gripping the rolls of paper around the center and lifting themabove the ground, do considerable damage by gauging the outer layers ofthe paper in spite of the craft paper wrapping around the roll, which inmost instances is not strong enough to withstand large pressure or otheradverse forces.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the foregoing problem, resulting inconsiderable damage cost to both the paper manufacturer and the printingplant, the present invention provides an improved wrapper constructionfor large rolls of papers having a tubular inner core to prevent theouter layers of paper from damage and to prevent the tubular inner corefrom being deformed due to a direct force applied to the paper rolls.

This is accomplished in the present invention by wrapping the outerlayers of the roll of paper in a conventional craft paper wrapper andproviding an intermediate corrugated sheet of material and wrapping itaround a substantial portion of the roll, preferably extending from thecenter towards the end thereof. Preferably, the corrugated sheet ofmaterial is made of cardboard, approximately one eighth to one fourth ofan inch in thickness and having a flat side and a corrugated side. Inassembly, the corrugated side is preferably placed to face outwardly andthe corrugated sheet of material does not need to be any longer than theexternal diameter of the roll of paper, although it would not matter ifthe ends overlap.

The flat side of the corrugated sheet of material is bonded to the craftpaper inner wrapper to keep it in place on the roll and an outer wrapperof craft paper, preferably of the same width as the corrugated sheet ofmaterial, is disposed over the outwardly facing corrugated side andlikewise bonded thereto.

Thus, during transit or storage of a plurality of paper rolls providedwith the present improved wrapper construction, the rolls, when placedadjacent each other, or put one on top of each other, lengthwise, arespaced apart at the center by the improved wrapper construction of thepresent invention, which radially extends beyond the nominal diameter ofthe rolls. The corrugated sheet of material provides an effectivecushion between adjacent rolls adapted to absorb substantial compressionand shock forces to which the paper rolls may be subjected duringtransit and handling.

The improved wrapper construction also provides an effective protectivecushion between the outer layers of the roll of paper and the clamps ofthe gripping arms of the lift truck during handling of the paper rollsinside the plant.

Obviously, the presently improved wrapper construction, providing acushioning belt around a substantial central portion of the roll,effectively prevents damage or deformation of the central tubular coreof the paper roll, even if bumped against each other during transit orcaused to drop to the floor inside the plant.

Considering an actual example, each of these heavy rolls of papers maycost on the average $130.00 and, prior to the present invention, a lpercent loss per roll had to be taken into account due to the damagewaste as explained in the foregoing. For instance, the average paperusage for a busy newspaper may be as many as 300 rolls per day and witha loss of 1 percent per roll, or $1.30 as per example, this loss runs upto a significant amount. Thus, it can be appreciated that by theprovision of the present improved wrapper construction, the savingsaccumulated by considerable reduction or complete elimination of paperwaste will by far out-weigh the cost of the improved wrapperconstruction.

THE DRAWINGS The present invention is described in detail in thefollowing FIG. 1 is a full side view of a roll of paper or other sheetmaterial provided with the present improved wrapper construction;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross section through the roll of sheetmaterial shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of the process of applying thepresent improved wrapper construction through the roll of sheet materialshown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal side view of two half size rolls of sheetmaterial placed together end-to-end to form a full size roll andprovided with the present improved wrapper construction to keep the twohalf size rolls together;

FIG. 5 is a perspective illustration of a plurality of rolls of sheetmaterial each provided with the present improved wrapper constructionplaced on end and adjacent to each other for shipping purpose; and

FIG. 6 is a front view of a plurality of rolls of sheet material stackedlengthwise and in pyramid form on a ground surface for storage.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference to the drawingsand particularly FIGS. 1 to 3, there is illustrated a roll of sheetmaterial 10, such as for instance, newsprint paper or the like.Normally, or as standardized, the width of the paper or other sheetmaterial is ap proximately 60 inches which determines the height of thepaper roll when stood on end and the normal or standardized diameter ofthe roll of paper or other sheet material 10 is approximately 40 inches.

As particularly illustrated in FIG. 2, the paper or other sheet materialis continuously wound around a central tubular core structure 12 whichcommonly is composed of an intermediate tube 14 made of a substantiallytough cardboard or the like, for cost reduction, which, at leastlengthwise, provides a substantial degree of rigidity. Both ends of theintermediate core tube are supported on metal inserts 16, each of whichis provided with an axial bore 18. The outer metal inserts 16, as iscommon, are provided for rotation or support on an arbor of a paperfeeding apparatus (not shown) for winding, or respectively unwinding, ofthe roll of paper 10. The metal inserts 16 at the left and right end ofthe roll 10 provide sufficient stiffness at the end of the roll and thusleaving only the intermediate portion of the roll of sheet material,supported on the tubular core 14, subject to damage and deformation ofthe core.

The roll of sheet material 10 is conventionally circumferentiallycovered substantially along its entire length by an inner-wrapper 20,preferably made of craft paper, to provide some degree of protection andwear resistance.

According to the present invention, over a substantial central portionof the roll of sheet material 10 radially outwardly of the tubular coresection 14, a sheet of corrugated material 22 is wrapped around theinner craft paper wrapper 20 and is preferably bonded thereto to beretained in place.

As shown in FIG. 3, the sheet of corrugated material which may be cut orthe like, has a flat side 24 and a corrugated side 26 and is preferablybetween one eighth and approximately one fourth of an inch thick. Inassembly of the present improved wrapper construction, the sheet ofcorrugated material 22 is disposed relative to the roll 10, such thatthe flat side 24 faces inwardly and the corrugated side 26 outwardly. Bymeans of a spraying or brushing method an adhesive 28 is applied betweenthe interfaces of the inner craft wrapper paper 20 and the flat surface24 of the corrugated sheet of material as it is wound around the roll 10to secure the bond thereto. It will be understood that the adhesive maybe applied to the flat surface of the corrugated sheet of material byany other means or method well known in the art.

After application of the corrugated sheet of material 22, around thesubstantial center portion of the roll 10, an outer wrapper 30,preferably of craft paper, is wrapped around the corrugated sheet ofmaterial and is bonded to the corrugated side 26 by means of applying anadhesive 28 between the corrugated side 26 and the backside of the outerwrapper 30, as shown in FIG. 3. Evidently, the outer wrapper 30 ispreferably of the same width as the sheet 22 of corrugated material, andmay be pre-bonded to the corrugated sheet prior to applying the improvedwrapper construction to the roll 10.

With reference to FIG. 4, inasmuch as FIGS. 1 to 3 illustratesapplication of the improved wrapper construction to a full size roll ofsheet material, the present improved wrapper construction can also beadvantageously used to half size rolls 32 and 34 being placed inlongitudinally end to end facing abutment.

These two half rolls 32 and 34 are then first covered by wrapper 20 ofcraft paper, whereafter the improved wrapper construction composed ofthe sheet of corrugated material 22 and the outer wrapper 30 is placedaround the two half size rolls radially around with the half size rollsmeeting in end-toend engagement as shown in FIG. 4. First, the improvedwrapper construction, not only protects the two half size rolls 32 and34 against damage, but also keeps the two half size rolls together.

In transit, or storage, as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, the improvedwrapper construction of the present invention provides an effectivecushioning means between rolls placed adjacent each other.

Thus, as shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of rolls 20 are placed in uprightposition in abutting relationship next to each other within a box car,truck bed, or the like for shipping from one facility to another. It canbe seen that the improved central wrapper construction 21 provides aspacing 23 between the rolls ends and to each other to improve thewrapper construction 21 and abut each other to provide an efi'ectivecushioning between the rolls. Thus, during irregular movement of thevehicle during transit, the central improved wrapper construction, dueto its corrugated sheet material, substantially absorbs normalcompression and bumping forces to thereby protect the outer layers ofthe sheet material from being damaged; and protects the core.

Referring to FIG. 6, a plurality of rolls of sheet material 10 may betransported on a vehicle or stored on the ground floor 34 in lengthwiseposition, laying flat on the ground and stacked upon each other in apyramid form. To prevent the pyramid form of rolls from collapsing, theoutermost rolls of the row of rolls immediately on the floor, aresupported against removable stops 36 to prevent them from rolling away.In order to remove the roll from the pyramid stack of rolls, asillustrated in FIG. 6, either the left or right floor stop 36 must beremoved causing the roll next adjacent to the stop to roll away wherebythe roll and the next adjacent roll between the outer roll and the rollnext to it is caused to slide down to the floor 34. Since this involvesa considerable drop which is slightly less than the diameter of theroll, conventionally when this happens the conventional inner craftpaper wrapper 20 very often burst open causing damage to outer layers ofthe sheet material of the roll 10, or if not burst open, still damagesthe outer layers.

It will be appreciated, that by the provision of the improved wrapperconstruction, the roll dropped from the next upper row to the floor 34will be efiectively cushioned by the corrugated sheet material so as toprevent any damage to the outer layers of the sheet material.

As in particular illustrated in the drawings, it is common practice inthe material handling of these rolls inside the plant, rolls to bepicked up by lift trucks commonly known as hi-los, which have a pair ofclamping arms provided with semi-circular clamps adapted to grab therolls from the floor for transit to another location and sometimesrotate them so they will be in the proper position at the workingstation. Prior to the present invention, this material handling causedconsiderable damages to the outer layers of the sheet material due togauging of the gripping arms of the hi-lo's. The improved wrapperconstruction of the present invention substantially eliminates damage bythe gripping arms of the hi-lo.

It will be evident from the foregoing description and accompanyingdrawings, that the present improved wrapper construction provides aneffective protection and cushioning means for large and heavy rolls ofmaterial which can be produced at a cost substantially less than thecost of waste normally encountered in transit and handling of largerolls of sheet material, particularly newsprint.

The present invention may be embodied without departing from the spiritand essential characteristic thereof, therefore, the present embodimentis to be considered in all respects as illustrative only and notrestricted, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appendedclaims rather than by the foregoing description.

lclaim:

1. A method for providing a cushioning wrapper around an already wrappednewsprint roll of conventional large size and great weight, e.g., about30 to 40 inches in diameter, about 60 inches in length, and about 4,000pounds in weight; compris ing bringing to the roll, then stationary, aflat faced corrugated cardboard cushioning wrapper and wrapping itaround the roll, then stationary, with the flat face against the wrappedroll, and the corrugated side outward and simultaneously bonding thecushioning wrapper to the wrapped roll;

and then bringing to the roll, then stationary, a smooth thin paperouter wrapper and wrapping it around the roll, then stationary, byapplying it to the corrugated outer face of the cushioning wrapper andsimultaneously bonding the outer wrapper to the cushioning wrapper.

*0 ll '9 t 4'

1. A method for providing a cushioning wrapper around an already wrappednewsprint roll of conventional large size and great weight, e.g., about30 to 40 inches in diameter, about 60 inches in length, and about 4,000pounds in weight; comprising bringing to the roll, then stationary, aflat faced corrugated cardboard cushioning wrapper and wrapping itaround the roll, then stationary, with the flat face against the wrappedroll, and the corrugated side outward and simultaneously bonding thecushioning wrapper to the wrapped roll; and then bringing to the roll,then stationary, a smooth thin paper outer wrapper and wrapping itaround the roll, then stationary, by applying it to the corrugated outerface of the cushioning wrapper and simultaneously bonding the outerwrapper to the cushioning wrapper.